Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs

About the Role

The Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs is responsible for the overarching vision and strategy that integrates exhibitions, collection gallery installations, and collection initiatives to support OMCA’s brand as a museum, garden, and gathering place. This role advances OMCA’s social impact by building trust, understanding, and connection between people and communities. Working closely with the Director & CEO and other department managers, the position leads the development of a comprehensive content calendar for temporary exhibitions and collection installations that showcase OMCA’s interdisciplinary collections, center equity and community voice, engage multiple constituencies, and tell the unique stories of Oakland and California.

The Deputy Director partners with the Senior Director of Learning, Experience and Programming to lead the Content and Experience “circle,” collaborating to create dynamic, integrated exhibitions and programs aligned with OMCA’s mission and goals for audience engagement, social impact, and financial sustainability. As a member of the Senior Directors Council, this role contributes to overall institutional leadership, strategic planning, and policy-making. The position oversees approximately 35 employees across Collections, Curatorial, Design, and Production departments and directly supervises 6 positions.

Responsibilities

Executive Responsibilities

• Provide leadership to the institution as a member of the Senior Directors Council, contributing to policy-making and ensuring the Museum’s vitality through active communication, problem-solving, and decision-making.
• Lead institutional planning, annual priorities, and initiatives.
• Contribute to prudent monitoring of OMCA’s annual budget and financial demands to ensure sustainability.
• Demonstrate exceptional leadership in motivating staff, delegating tasks, and encouraging independent problem-solving by individuals and teams.
• Keep apprised of trends in the museum and nonprofit field to maintain OMCA’s leadership as a 21st-century museum.
• Serve as staff liaison to assigned Board committees.
• Act as Acting Director in the absence of the Executive Director, as requested.
• Serve as a spokesperson for OMCA in the community, field, and media; participate in professional conferences, civic gatherings, and donor cultivation.

Leadership and Strategy

• Translate OMCA’s strategic plan, social impact, and business model into multi-year exhibition and core gallery priorities and budgets, monitoring performance and adjusting as needed.
• Lead priority-setting and budget planning for Curatorial, Collections, Design, and Production departments.
• Provide strategic leadership and coaching for cross-institutional initiatives and teams.
• Play an active role in donor cultivation, grant development, and sponsorship solicitation to support collections, exhibitions, conservation, and programs.
• Partner with Marketing & Communications to develop strategies for exhibitions, collections, and content.
• Collaborate on visitor-centered content development to support exhibitions and core gallery presentations.
• Foster a culture of professional development, milestone engagement, and team recognition.

Curatorial and Exhibitions Oversight

• Define a strategic direction for OMCA’s exhibition and core gallery initiatives based on community input and analysis of internal and external landscapes.
• Lead annual and multi-year planning of exhibitions and gallery programs that align with OMCA’s mission, business, and social impact goals.
• Ensure clarity of vision, frameworks, and resources for cross-discipline and cross-departmental collaboration in creating visitor experiences.
• Support priority-setting and planning for curatorial, collections, design, and production teams to deliver projects on time, on budget, and with stakeholder engagement.
• Facilitate cross-department conversations and problem-solving for staff capacity, time, and resource management.

Collections Care and Management

• Oversee OMCA’s collecting and collections strategy, including accessions and deaccessions, with curatorial and collections teams.
• Consult on the care, installation, and presentation of collections.
• Advocate for initiatives that modernize and streamline collections stewardship, enhancing access to collection items and information.
• Support ethical collections and exhibition practices, including NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA compliance, intellectual property concerns, and community input in collections care.

Design and Production

• Oversee priority-setting and planning for the design studio to ensure consistent visual expression of OMCA’s brand and institutional goals.
• Oversee planning for the production team to align exhibition, gallery, and institutional projects with strategic initiatives.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience with progressive growth toward senior leadership in a museum setting.
• 7+ years of supervisory experience.
• M.A. in a relevant field required.
• Demonstrated experience directing successful exhibition and collection initiatives in museums.
• Familiarity with multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary fields, including arts, history, and/or natural sciences, with a focus on community engagement and audience development.
• Knowledge of trends and progressive practices in the museum field.
• Up-to-date knowledge of collections care and museum conservation principles.
• Familiarity with museum relations with Indigenous communities.
• Demonstrated achievements as an adaptive change agent, collaborator, coach, and team builder.
• Superior written and verbal communication and presentation skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills for leading diverse teams and managing varied work styles.
• Understanding of fundraising techniques, grant application procedures, and funding sources.
• Demonstrated cultural competence and a history of building equitable and inclusive programming.
• Ability to thrive in a deeply collaborative and fluid culture.
• Experience with Google platform preferred.

Work Environment

The role operates in a museum environment with both indoor and outdoor working conditions. Ability to travel between OMCA locations and other sites as required by position responsibilities.